A mere three days before the start of the “Legend Boucles the Spa”, we assisted at the presentation of Finnish Rally Champion Harri Rovanperä and his co-pilot John Muth, when both men took the wheel of a beautiful and pristine Porsche 911 SC RS Group B on the winding  track of ‘Brussels Kart’ . After a short stint through the narrow bends, the doors of the karting hall were soon opened, and the Porsche could paste all its thoroughbred power on the tarmac of the adjacent parking lot, cleared of cars but not of ice, and so we could witness some masterful power slides of the howling Porsche, with master Harri Rovanperä at the wheel…

We had an interview with Harri Rovanperä at breakfast, before the press conference at Brussels Kart...  

Historic champion…

We had of course a short interview with Harri Rovanperä before the press conference. Harri  has been works driver with Peugeot and Mitsubishi in the WRC, and was a winner of the Rally of Sweden in 2006. “I drove more than 10 years in various championship events, indeed I drove some 40 World Championship Rallyes. I drove 2 years with Seat, 1 year with Toyota, 4 years with Peugeot, 1 year with Mitsubishi, and when they retired and still after a short stint in the Red Bull Skoda’s in 2006, I also put an end to my career as a works rally driver. Last year I drove already a historic Rally in Belgium, and I am honored and pleased to take again part in this historic event.”

We asked Harri which events and cars he liked the most in terms of driving experience, in his long career.

“I think the Peugeot 206 is the best rally car, but what rally’s is concerned, there are many. I would say, when you have good results, you are happy with the race too.”

The art of (re)building a classic racing car…

The Porsche 911 SC RS Group B looked and sounded very impressive indeed. Lionel Hansen, the ex-engineer of Renault Sport and Kronos Racing, who will be seen on the racing tracks this year with the new W Racing, lining up the Audi R8 “bolides” in the Belcar series, explained: “This car, which is the first of its kind since more than 20 years, is the result of an excellent collaboration with the Delahaye Racing Team.

The Porsche which Harri will be driving is a pristine replica of the original 911 RS in Group B livery. The result of meticulous research is seen and felt throughout the rebuild of this "pur sang" automobile...   

I know this team since their victorious beginnings of the Mégane project in the Belgian Touring Car Championship.”

Lionel Hansen created with Delahaye Racing a so-called “Classic” (Racing) department, dubbed “Delahaye Classic”, where the know- how and experience of both partners were put together.

Dashboard and instruments breathe the '80s original 911 RS . Only the steering wheel is set closer to the driver, to keep up with todays "best racing practices"...  

“The Porsche you see here today is the result of nine months of painstaking research”, Lionel continued. “A patient work of collecting documentation, data, of having long conversations with former mechanics of RAS, with my friend Jean-Marc Gaban or the Weissach (Porsche) factory engineer.  We collected the necessary parts, and based ourselves also on not less than 500 photos.

“Building the car from A to Z took us not less than 3 months, which represents hundreds of hours put in by competent and passionate mechanics. Everything has been put together adhering strictly to the original homologation papers. Some parts had to be completely rebuilt, but the end result is a completely faithful replica at a cost of merely one third of the original.”

The car was unbveiled by both drivers on the track of Brussels Kart

No museum piece…

“The objective of Delahaye Classic is to offer a personal service, to rebuild prestigious (racing) cars for clients wanting to participate in historic races, as I have done already with the Alpine A110 seen in the Legend Boucles de Spa with Jean Ragnotti or with the Porsche 911 Kronos, which took part in the last Safari ” , continues Lionel Hansen.

The team, driver Harri Ravonperä on the left and co-pilot John Muth on the right, are thrilled to drive the Porsche in the Legend Boucles de Spa...

“This 911 RC RS is a showcase of our craftsmanship”, he goes further. “We have pushed our limits here. I count on the professionalism and experience of Harri for giving us a good technical feedback, tomorrow at the training and in the race. A good pilot is of course crucial to achieve a good setup and balance of the car. A good result in the race will also be a very important introduction for us, and I count on both Harri and John to show the excellent potential of our car in the different stages of the event. Quite naturally, our pilots have the professional skills to steer the car safely through difficult stages like the Clémentine.”

“I will personally drive the car at the Rallye of Hannut and the car is already rented out for a race in France. The “Tour de Corse Historique” is also tempting. The power to weight ratio of the car (more than 300 HP for a weight of merely 960 kg) is excellent and this makes the car a formidable contender for this type of races. “ concludes Lionel.

The Porsche showed already its formidable power in this oversteering "act" on the Brussels Kart parking lot (!)

The car is also a further step from the Group 3 2.7 RS Porsche which will be driven by Frédéric Bouvy. This car will also be for rent or sale after the event in Spa.

“This car here is also the first building block of our further strategy. I plan already to rebuild a Porsche 911 2.8 RSR. But quite frankly, we are not tied to one make; Everything is possible with ‘Delahaye Classic’. All the dreams can be (re)built…” smiles Lionel.

The first glorious moments for Harri behind the wheel of this brand new Porsche thoroughbred...

A good guide…

We also had a brief talk with co-pilot John Muth, who was a laureate in the 2007 edition of the Legend Boucles de Spa as a co-driver in the Porsche of Marc Duez. John is the owner of Restaurant ‘Vieux Ganshoren’, and is very impressed with the professionalism of Harri Rovanperä. He most certainly will cook a good brew for Harri, and will guide him in English through the winding roads of our beautiful Ardennes and Spa surroundings.

The Porsche is seen here accelerating along the concrete blocks of the parking lot, but soon it will het the Ardenne roads!

He was first planned to be the co-equipier of Marc Duez, but he took Koen Wauters as his co-driver for this event. “These Nordic men have powerslides in their blood and fingertips, and Harri is no exception. I know him well since 10 years. We drove together the 24 hours of Zolder in a Lamborghini, and he was very pleased when we asked him to take the wheel of this beautifully prepared Porsche. We will have much fun in the Boucles, but we also aim to finish on a podium place. We can do it…” concluded John with a broad and confident smile.      

Hans Knol ten Bensel